Hard to believe that Nuit Blanche, the mind-blowing all-night art party that transforms downtown from dusk to dawn, is already in its 10th edition. But the big blast isn’t resting on its laurels, bringing new ideas and strategies to an event that draws close to a million people – in just one night.

To name just a few new developments, there are more extended projects than ever, so if you succumb to fatigue, you’ll have until October 14 to check them out. The festival heads to the waterfront for the first time – taking advantage of improvements courtesy of the Pan Am Games – and, at last, the Yonge and Bloor subway lines stay open from 7 pm Saturday to 9 am Sunday so revellers can stay for the duration of the party and get home via TTC.

It won’t be so easy to get hammered this time around: the number of bars open late has been reduced to just five.

This year’s events tend toward the performative and real-time, giving the art an ephemeral quality. In other words, you never know what you’re going to get.

Unpredictability makes Nuit Blanche unique.

Follow NOW on Twitter all nuit long:NOW writers are set to dive into the all-night art party and will be reporting on all the best and the worst of the night – as it happens